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Want to learn more about our academic degree programs? Take a look at our Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Ministry programs. Plus, learn about our unique Training & Mentoring program.

This Student Life section is the one-stop shop for students to get connected to activities that will feed your spiritual and social life as well as equip you with resources to jump-start your academic career.

Being a part of our Denver Seminary community is about connection. Whether you are an alumni, donor, or friend of the Seminary, we want to stay in touch and hope you'll take part in our programs and events.

Denver Seminary has a wealth of resources that are available to current students, alumni, and the local community. Here you will find access to the Denver Journal, Engage Magazine, and the various initiatives organized by the Seminary.

On
the opening page of his preface Crenshaw states the particular interest
that motivates this book: "The primary focus of the present study is
the nature of knowledge being transmitted from one generation to the
next, not the degree of literacy in Israel or the specific location of
educational institutions" (p. vii). Indeed this work’s subtitle is
intended to reflect the notion of conveying convictions of the wise
beyond one’s passing from this life to subsequent generations–i.e.,
"across the deadening silence" (note p. 3, fn. 3).

Nevertheless,
even though the declared purpose is not to concentrate on questions of
literacy and educational institutions in ancient Israel, Crenshaw in no
way ignores these debated topics. In chapter 1 the author marshals data
to demonstrate that literacy in the Ancient Near East was not as
widespread as some have believed. In Israel the continual ‘manpower’
demands and economic pressures of an agricultural economy, as well as
the lack of social stimulus from the elite for broad education and
cultural development, would have served to discourage any significant
commitment among ordinary Israelites and Judaeans to formal education.
Chapter 3 is dedicated to contradicting those (such as E.W. Heaton, A.
Lemaire, and G.I. Davies) who suggest that a network of formal schools
existed in ancient Israel (Here he would be in agreement with scholars
like M. Haran and S. Weeks). The author argues that the biblical
evidence is often nonexistent or ambiguous and that comparative
evidence from Egypt and Mesopotamia can only be applied with great
caution, because of important differences in cultural and
socio-political complexity. The strongest case for formal schooling, he
says, can be made on the basis of Palestinian inscriptions (e.g.,
possible abecedaries, lists, and writing exercises), but even in this
instance the evidence is not as persuasive as some have suggested.

The
rest of the book is dedicated to pursuing Crenshaw’s stated intent. The
remaining chapters provide a host of interesting insights into the
ancient educational process that prove to be one of the strengths of
the book. Crenshaw probes the nature of ancient pedagogy (ch. 4), as
well as the student’s reluctance to learn and temptations to leave the
course of training... a tact that was countered by strong and
persisitent exhortation, but also apparently with harsh corporal
discipline (ch. 5). He presents the wide variety of terminology
utilized to describe teaching and learning (ch. 7; note in particular
the lists of verbs on pp. 208, 211) and asks whether certain books in
Israel’s canon might have served explicitly as texts for advanced
instruction, because of their capacity to generate reflection on life
(along this line, Crenshaw points out, for example, the editorial
comments of the closing lines of Qoheleth and the notice of editorial
activity in Proverbs as possible evidence of such a purpose). He
demonstrates the different theoretical contributions and perspectives
of each of the wisdom books, while at the same time underscoring their
shared effort at holding together the tension between the human
discovery of wisdom and the need for divine disclosure of that which
lies beyond the limitations of reasoning (chs. 9, 10).

Another
constructive contribution of this work is the constant comparison and
contrast with extra-biblical material: within the Jewish tradition he
repeatedly devotes considerable space to Sirach; he also alludes on
quite a number of occasions to Egyptian and Mesopotamian literature.
Finally, the concluding chapter offers a succinct and capable summary
of the various discussions of the book.

This reviewer would
mention just two shortcomings of this work–the first in regards to
format, the other in terms of research methodology. To begin with,
there are times when Education in Ancient Israel is a bit
repetitive (e.g., discussions on the social locations of the wise, pp.
61-64 and 266-276). This is due to the fact that this book, to a large
extent, is a collection of articles and papers presented elsewhere. The
resulting unavoidable reappearance of topics dealt with earlier
sometimes can make reading a bit tedious. This is a shame, as Crenshaw
is an acknowledged and respected expert on the wisdom literature. One
would have liked to have enjoyed a more easily flowing argumentation
from this scholar’s pen.

The second caveat is more
substantive. The reader senses that Crenshaw wants to focus on the
learning process at least in part because of the paucity of solid
evidence for and the tendency toward circular reasoning in efforts to
reconstruct more concrete historical realities such as literacy and the
existence of formal schools in Israel. Yet, Crenshaw’s reconstruction
of the learning process is based on the interpretation and collation of
selected verses and on his dating of the textual material. Is this
attempt any more deserving of confidence than the other kinds of
reconstructions? Due precisely to the lack of as much evidence as
scholars would like to have at their disposal, however, perhaps such
efforts are the best one can hope for.

This book can be of
benefit to two audiences: those seeking to enlarge their comprehension
of the social and intellectual realities of Israel, and others
interested in education in general and who desire a more in-depth
presentation of education in the ancient world than is often available
in standard textbooks. For either group Crenshaw has provided a source
of helpful information.